In light of lawsuit, Whole Foods officials say company won't work with farms that source from Live Oak hatchery

SANTA CRUZ - In the wake of a lawsuit filed against a Santa Cruz County hatchery, a spokeswoman for national grocery chain Whole Foods has said the company won't work with farms that source from there.

In a statement for the Austin, Texas-based chain, Beth Krauss said that "while Whole Foods does not have a direct relationship with Cal-Cruz, two farms that supply our Northern California and Southern Pacific regions have sourced chicks from them. Both have broken ties with Cal-Cruz and as such, Whole Foods Market will no longer work with any farms that source from Cal-Cruz."

Animal advocacy organization Compassion Over Killing, based in Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit last week against Cal-Cruz Hatcheries Inc. of Live Oak. The suit, filed in civil court in Santa Cruz County, accuses the company of routinely abusing animals at its facility. It seeks to stop the abuse and recover some of the costs that Compassion Over Killing says it has spent on attorney fees and other expenses its had to spend because of Cal-Cruz' practices.

The suit names Cal-Cruz and its owner, Brian Collins, and claims that employees mutilate, neglect and mistreat baby birds in numerous ways.

The complaints stem from a 2009 investigation, in which an employee of Compassion Over Killing secretly documented the treatment of chickens and ducks at Cal-Cruz with a hidden camera, according to court records.

The video footage was later turned over to county Animal Services officials, who conducted their own investigation and gave their findings to the Santa Cruz District Attorney's Office. During the course of their investigation, county Animal Services seized 88 ducklings from the facility, 40 of which had to be euthanized. The others were sent to a farm sanctuary. The DA's office later declined to file charges against Cal-Cruz Hatcheries.

Calls to a telephone number listed for Cal-Cruz were not returned Thursday,